


clips + curls

by neopuff



Series: White Gloves and Gun Holsters [3]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-18
Updated: 2017-10-17
Packaged: 2018-12-31 04:24:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12124443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neopuff/pseuds/neopuff
Summary: A group of oneshots focused on Riza and Rebecca (and sometimes Roy.)





	1. priorities

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! I finally had a moment to write one of the many, many fics I have planned in a notepad file. I wish I could write faster.
> 
> This first chapter is just a continuation of Riza and Rebecca's conversation in chapter 108.

“His eyes are…”

Rebecca stared at her friend, waiting for her to continue. Instead, Riza bit her lip and covered her eyes with her hand, clearly too frustrated to speak.

“His eyes are…what?” Rebecca finally said as the nurses dispersed and moved towards other patients that needed more immediate attention.

“…they took his sight,” she finally mumbled. “I couldn’t…I couldn’t protect him…”

Rebecca frowned and grabbed Riza’s wrist, tugging it away from her face. “Come on, Riza…he’s alive, isn’t he?”

Riza slowly opened her eyes and stared at her friend. “My job isn’t _just_ to keep him alive. It’s to keep him _safe!_ ”

“Technically, your current job is to keep the Fuhrer safe,” Rebecca pointed out with a finger in the air. “And you did a terrible job at that.”

She tried to glare in response, but Riza couldn’t help but smirk the tiniest bit at Rebecca’s attempt to lighten the mood. “I’m being serious, Rebecca.”

“You’re _always_ being serious,” she scoffed. “I know it sucks, but…he’s alive. And you’re alive. That’s better than a lot of people can say right now. Try to focus on the positives for a _second,_ at least!"

Riza sighed and moved her hand onto her forehead this time, rubbing her temples thoughtfully. After a few moments of thought, she moved it again to rest against her injured shoulder. “…apparently I’ll be under observation here for two weeks.”

Rebecca rolled her eyes. “So you want me to break you out after one week, right?”

Riza laughed – genuinely laughed – in response, though the sudden movement just agitated her injury and she winced. “Actually, I was going to ask you to stay at my apartment and look after Hayate for me. Unless you’re headed back East soon.”

“Are you kidding?” Rebecca leaned over. “I’m not leaving until I know you’re safe and sound!”

Riza smiled. “…thank you.”

“But that being said…” Rebecca brought up her arms and leaned her elbows onto the cot. “What the _hell_ happened, anyway? You were _covered_ in blood when they took you off the field.”

“Mm…the nurses kept commenting on how much blood I'd lost."

“That was _all_ yours?`” Rebecca looked down at the bandages. “You’re complaining about not protecting Mustang; where was he when this happened to _you?!_ ”

“He was there,” Riza mumbled. “…held down and forced to watch.”

“…oh......yikes.” She couldn’t imagine what she would’ve done in that situation. “Sorry.”

Riza closed her eyes. “…you’re right, though. I’m alive. He’s alive. I should be grateful for that.” Riza paused as she suddenly remembered the last thing to happen before she finally passed out. She tried to turn her head and scowled as she failed. “Did Edward make it back? With Alphonse?”

Rebecca nodded. “They’re safe and sound.”

Riza smiled and relaxed. “Good. I, um…” She took a deep breath. “I think the medication they gave me is starting to kick in.”

“You could use the rest, Riza.”

“Just-“ Riza blinked rapidly as she tried to stay awake. “Please find out how the Colonel is doing…I-“

“Yeah, yeah, alright.” Rebecca grabbed a blanket from a nearby cart and put it on her  friend. “I’ll debrief you when you wake up, okay?”

“Mm…thank you...Becca,” Riza mumbled, finally falling asleep.

Rebecca just sighed and pushed Riza’s bangs away from her eyes. “You have such messed up priorities."


	2. theft

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rebecca and Roy discuss the move from East to Central.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know technically this isn't Rebecca and Riza, but also it totally is, so.

_“Colonel Mustang!”_

Roy glanced up as his door was loudly thrown open; the somewhat familiar face of Lieutenant Catalina glaring at him from the hallway. She marched towards his desk, glare and frown in tow.

“Yes?”

“You’re _stealing_ her!” she shouted, hands slamming onto his desk.

Roy’s mouth formed a thin, straight line as he glanced over to where Hawkeye was normally sitting. Apparently, Lieutenant Catalina chose the one day when he was the only one working late to confront him. “Am I now? It seemed to me that she agreed to come along.”

Rebecca scowled. “Just let me be mad at you, you little-!”

“Do you talk to all of your superior officers like this?” Roy put his pen down and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Just the ones that piss me off,” Rebecca replied.

He chuckled at that and leaned forward. “Look, Catalina, I’m sure Hawkeye has already told you that she plans on following me wherever I go. You had to have seen this coming.”

Rebecca sighed. “I _know!_ But that doesn’t make it _suck_ any less!” She turned around and leaned against his desk, much to Roy’s disdain. “She’s _my_ Riza. Not yours!”

He rolled his eyes. “She may not be my _Riza_ , but she _is_ my Lieutenant.”

“Wow,” Rebecca glared down at him. “You could at _least_ be honest when she’s moving cities for you!”

“Wha-?“ He glared back in confusion. “What’s _that_ supposed to mean?”

Rebecca pushed herself away from the desk. “Nothing, nothing, whatever. Just don’t let anything bad happen to her over there!” She started to saunter out of the room.

Roy huffed, insulted that she felt the need to tell him that. “You don’t exactly have the authority to order me around, Catalina.”

“Oh, actually,” Rebecca turned around and pointed at the Colonel. “That order comes directly from General Grumman. So, yeah…I guess I do.”

He frowned and, after a moment of hesitation, stood up and saluted at the her. “You have my word, Lieutenant Catalina. I’ll keep her safe by my side.”

Rebecca smirked. “Good.” She continued walking away and then grabbed the door handle. After a sigh, she quickly turned one last time and saluted him back. “Congratulations on your promotion to Central, Sir.”


	3. history

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roy Mustang meets Rebecca Catalina for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote about Roy and Rebecca again, whoops. But again, they're just talking about Riza. So it counts! Wrote it pretty quick before work, no beta...the usual. Enjoy!

Riza Hawkeye was hard _not_ to love.

There was something about the honesty in her eyes, the genuine way she expressed herself, the professionalism in her walk. He couldn’t agree less when someone regarded her as cold or scary or fraudulent. And maybe he was biased – maybe loving her seemed easy because it came naturally to him – but Maes had said before that if his heart wasn’t already spoken for, he’d probably understand it, too. And from a man as loyal as Maes Hughes, that really meant something.

He tried not to think about how much he loved her. There was an ease in their conversations that wasn’t normal for a commanding officer and his subordinate – and there was a sparkle in his eyes that he couldn’t hide when he saw her walk in the door every morning (or more likely, when he walked through the door and saw her already there.) He hoped only those closest to him would notice.

One night, one particularly awful night where Hughes had left him at the bar alone to pick up the tab, Roy considered the possibility that he might not be as subtle as he thought. He glanced over as the seat next to him was taken by a busty brunette.

She scoffed when she noticed where his gaze lingered and he looked up at her face. Vaguely familiar. He didn’t know her name, but he knew her from somewhere.

“Second Lieutenant Catalina,” she said with a scowl.

Roy blinked. “Hawkeye’s friend?”

“The one and the same.” She adjusted her position and looked at him. “And you’re the ever-famous Lieutenant Colonel Mustang…Hero of Ishval and self-proclaimed womanizer. Is that right?”

He scratched his cheek. “That’s more dramatic of an introduction than I’m used to, but I suppose so.”

She rolled her eyes. “Do you always drink here alone, Mr. Womanizer?”

“I was just abandoned a few minutes ago, actually.” Roy chuckled. “But now I’m in the presence of a beautiful woman instead of a married man, so clearly that worked out for me.”

Rather than the expected response of a blush and sigh, she just glared at him. “Riza told me about you.”

“Oh?”

“About the girls you hang out with. And your goals.” She leaned on one hand.

Roy took a sip of his drink and didn’t look over at her. He didn’t realize he needed to talk to his Lieutenant about keeping these things between them. “Is that so?”

“It is.” She tried to size up his reaction – clearly disappointed that he didn’t have one. “I mentioned how much I couldn’t stand you and she felt the need to come to your defense."

He couldn’t hide a small smile that time.

Catalina smirked at seeing it, happy to have something to go off of. “She’s very loyal, isn’t she?”

“She is.” Roy finally looked over at the woman again. “Did you just come over here to talk about Hawkeye?” He raised an eyebrow, just now noticing how red her cheeks were and the drink in her hand. Was she drunk?

“What else would I talk about with you?” She laughed. “She’s been going on about you nonstop lately. I can tell she wants to get me on board with your little operation.”

“Then she must trust you implicitly,” he commented. “I know Hawkeye. She wouldn’t tell that to just anybody.”

Catalina laughed again. “Actually, I had to get her drunk first. I thought I was gonna find out that you two were sleeping together, but then I got _that_ instead.”

He pouted for a brief moment, trying his best to hide it. “You sound relieved.”

“I was.”

Roy glanced at her again. “Jealous?” he asked with an awkward smirk. He wasn’t feeling up for teasing her, but it came naturally.

“…yeah,” she answered, surprisingly honest. “I think she loves you.”

He didn’t react again. “You’re overthinking it. We have a history.”

“I know.”

Roy couldn’t help but look at her again. She was even more in his face than before. “You know _what?_ ”

“I _know._ ”

The meaning was obvious to him, but he felt himself get flustered anyway. “…and?”

“Are you mad at her for showing me?"

He shook his head. “Of course not. It’s not mine. She can share it with whoever she wants.”

“Good.”

Roy huffed out a breath. “I don’t think she’d appreciate you going around and making assumptions about her feelings.”

“I could make assumptions about _your_ feelings, too, if that’d help.” She smirked. “But I’d say enough people do that for me.”

He scowled. “It’s not-…” He sighed and lowered his head. “I’m hoping you’re too drunk to remember any of this tomorrow.”

“Sorry, Flame Boy, but I don’t forget a reaction like that.” She smiled and tapped the side of her head. “But I won’t say anything. Riza already knows, anyway.”

He finally reacted in a way he knew she wanted – an extra blush on his cheeks and a shocked expression. He couldn’t help it.

Catalina laughed. “Okay, that was _too_ priceless! Don’t worry, Mustang, I was just kidding!”

He rolled his eyes. “How exactly are _you_ Hawkeye’s best friend?”

“We have a history, too,” she said with a smile. But it wasn’t a teasing smile like before – it seemed fake to him.

“It’s not like you were her first friend,” Roy muttered, wondering why he didn’t like how she said that.

“Maybe not, but I was her first for a lot of other things.”

He didn’t know how to respond to that. After a moment of staring into his glass, he realized: “Are you bragging?”

She laughed. “Maybe a little bit. But I shouldn’t. I’m pretty confident about what I said before…she definitely loves you.”

“Being confident doesn’t mean you’re right,” he answered and saw her getting up from her chair. “Are you done with me already?”

She lightly punched his shoulder. “My ride’s here, so yeah, I’m done.”

She headed out the door, and Roy’s eyes followed her – leading up to his adjutant and _his_ car outside the bar. Part of him knew he should go say something to her, but another part of him didn’t want to be stuck between a drunk Catalina and an unhappy-looking Second Lieutenant Hawkeye.

Catalina laughed about something and pointed her thumb back to him – Roy didn’t even have time to pretend he wasn’t watching them when Hawkeye looked over and they made eye contact.

She glanced back at the car and hesitated for a second, looking like she was going to walk in and apologize – so Roy gave her a nod and a small wave to let her know it was fine. She nodded back and they were on their way.

Roy didn’t think he’d ever have a conversation like that with Second Lieutenant Catalina again. Usually his drunk talks were saved for Hughes and occasionally Havoc or Breda. And all he’d done this time was embarrass himself over and over again. But at least, if there was one thing he got out of speaking to her, it was confirmation that he wasn’t the only one who felt that Riza Hawkeye was hard not to love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started this with this line: “Maybe not, but I was her first for a lot of other things.” and things just went from there.


End file.
